Cardinal Hume Prospectus 2024-25

The Bishop Wilkinson
Catholic Education Trust
Cardinal Basil Hume
Born 1923, died 1999
Welcome from our Chief Executive
Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust supports and partners
with five secondary schools, one middle school, forty-one Primary
and one first school in the west of our Diocese.
Our designated schools are located in four different Local Authorities:
Northumberland, Gateshead, Sunderland and Durham. Within our Trust we have
a Centre For Teaching, a National Computing Hub, a National MFL Hub and a
national accredited NPQ (National Professional Qualification for Headship and
Leadership) provider.
As Chief Executive Officer of the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust I never
cease to be amazed by the hard work, commitment and dedication of our staff
within the Trust with regard to health, care, well-being and academic progress of
our wonderful students.
Our Trust is brimming with talent and expertise which is provided by our excellent
Head Teachers, staff and Trust central team. Through these dedicated people,
we are able to focus on and help advise and support schools so they can create
environments and opportunities that will allow transformational leadership and
teaching to develop, grow and make a difference.
Nick Hurn, CEO
Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust
Bishop Thomas William Wilkinson
Thomas William Wilkinson was born in 1825. He was a priest for
60 years and a bishop for nearly 21 years.
His father was a well-known barrister who was appointed as the county court
judge of Northumberland in 1847. Wilkinson was educated at Harrow before
entering the recently established University of Durham. He was ordained there
in 1845 and was appointed to a clerical position at the Anglo-Catholic and
semi-monastic community of St Saviour’s, Leeds. Within eighteen months
both he and his other companions had converted to the Catholic Church.
Wilkinson spent the next two years at Oscott College training for the priesthood although he was actually
ordained at Ushaw in 1848. His first appointment following ordination was as a missionary at Wolsingham
where, for the next four years, he not only ministered to the population of the town but also to the rapidly
expanding mining community of Crook, as well as engaging in directing building at Ushaw.
In 1865, and in recognition of his work, he was appointed as a canon of the chapter of the diocese of
Hexham. Following a breakdown in health five years later, Wilkinson was forced to retire from active work
and, for the next 20 years, he spent most of his time directing his estate at Thistleflatt. In 1889, Wilkinson
was appointed bishop of Hexham and Newcastle but he also spent a great deal of time exercising
jurisdiction over Ushaw, with the result that he was appointed president there in the following year.
During his presidency, Wilkinson was able to place the college finances on a proper footing and, through
an excellent relationship with the procurator, raise enough money for repairs, alterations and improvements,
including the building of a new dormitory, the reconstruction of the sanitary block and the modernising of
the system of gas lighting. He remained president and bishop until his death on April 17th 1909 at the age
of 84. He is buried at Ushaw College.
Born George Hume in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1923 to a Scottish father and French Catholic
mother. He is remembered for his work with the homeless, his love of football and for bringing
his church to a state of harmony not previously seen for 400 years.
Hume decided to become a monk at the age of ten. He joined Ampleforth Monastery in 1941, taking the name Basil,
and his solemn vows in 1945. He studied in Oxford and Fribourg then was ordained in 1950.
Returning to Ampleforth, he became Assistant Priest in the village and a teacher in the school, eventually becoming
Head of Modern Languages and school rugby coach. He also taught dogmatic theology to the monks in training.
Hume progressed fast: he was elected to represent Ampleforth in the General Chapter of the English Benedictine
Congregation in 1957, then elected Magister Scholarum. In 1963, he was elected Abbot of Ampleforth and it was
in this role that his talent for keeping the peace and promoting harmony started to show. He became Archbishop
in 1975 and was promoted to Cardinal in 1976 and became president of the Council of European Bishops’
Conferences between 1978-87 and president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales 1979-99.
He encouraged work with young homeless people through the Society of St Vincent de Paul and in 1986 founded
the Cardinal Hume Centre for young people at risk. He even opened the Cathedral Hall to those sleeping rough.
Throughout his life he remained a humble and approachable man, preferring to wear a monk’s habit instead of his
Cardinal’s robes.
So adept was Cardinal Hume at promoting harmony, the position of Roman Catholics in Britain moved from one of
slight suspicion to one of unthinking acceptance. The Queen rewarded his remarkable achievements shortly before
his death on 17th June 1999 with the Order of Merit.
04
05